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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, February 26th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: A judge has dismissed the racketeering indictment against South Jersey political boss George Norcross and several close allies. Norcross is New Jersey's most influential unelected political power broker. He was charged last year with using his vast influence to enrich himself through development along the Camden Waterfront. Norcross and his attorneys had argued New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin was trying to criminalize bare-knuckle politics in the Garden State.

In today's ruling, Judge Peter Warshaw agreed, saying that when private parties negotiate economic deals, threats sometimes just are not illegal. The judge also dismissed charges against other defendants, including former Camden Mayor Dana Redd and George Norcross' brother Philip, who's an attorney. Platkin says he plans to appeal.

The Jersey Shore has a new invasive resident, a sea anemone from England. Marine biologists at Monmouth University say the beadlet anemone looks like a squishy blob of green snot. They say the tentacled sea creature likely hitchhiked across the Atlantic Ocean on shipping vessels. Jason Adolf is a marine biology professor at Monmouth University and an author of a new study on the invasive anemones.

Jason Adolf: Ecosystems are actually very complicated things. When you find an invasive species like this, all of a sudden, we want to document that and learn about it.

Michael Hill: The anemones have been spotted as far south as Barnegat Bay. They're competing for space on rocks with mussels and barnacles. 53 with sunshine now. Sunny and mid-50s today and gusty tomorrow. Slightly warmer. Late-morning showers likely. Cloudy and upper 50s and gusty.

Janae Pierre: Stay close. There's more after the break.

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Sean Carlson: On WNYC, I'm Sean Carlson. The New Jersey attorney general's office is out with new guidance for police when it comes to their interactions with autistic people and people with other communication disorders. Joining us now to talk more about it is New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin. Attorney General, thanks as always for coming on.

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Thanks so much for having me.

Sean Carlson: Can you tell us more about this new guidance for law enforcement?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Sure. Well, this was done in partnership with our sister agencies to ensure that when law enforcement interacts with someone who is dealing with autism or other diagnoses that they know the signs of those disorders and how to effectively communicate with them. It's part of an effort in New Jersey to ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the tools and training that they need to respond to any interaction that they have in a way that's safe for the officer and for the residents of our state.

Sean Carlson: What sorts of misunderstandings could occur between police and someone with a disorder like autism?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Well, we know that folks with autism might not always respond to certain non-verbal cues or different ways that they'll interpret commands. What we want to make sure is the officer in that moment can have the information. Part of it is they'll see on their card, their driver's license, or their ID that they have autism or another disorder. They have training for how to appropriately communicate with them so that, again, the situation can be resolved responsibly and safely.

Sean Carlson: How do you make sure that law enforcement are following the guidance and are there any accountability measures for police who do not?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Well, we have the best-trained law enforcement officers in the country. We're the only state that trained every officer on, for instance, de-escalation and bystander intervention training. We're the only state in the country that has a statewide mental health program where we're responding to mental health calls with a clinical approach. Now, we are at the forefront here of responding to other mental health challenges in a state where 1 in 35 8-year-olds has autism.

We know that millions of adults have autism across the country as well as other speech disorders. We will make sure that they're trained. All 42,000 of our officers are trained on this new guidance. As we do with everything, we do this in partnership with our law enforcement officers, who, I have to say in New Jersey, have really embraced these reforms over the past several years, resulting in a safer state and safer officers and more trust between law enforcement and their communities.

Sean Carlson: How legally binding is this new guidance? In other words, how easy would it be for the next administration to just overturn it if they don't want it?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Well, in New Jersey, I am the chief law enforcement officer. The directives that we put out and the guidance that we put out carry the force of law. Certainly, a new administration could change course. I'm not going to predict where that would go. I think this is really effort that is both bipartisan and supported by everybody because, again, everybody in some way has been touched by someone with autism, which, by the way, is why it's so striking that the Trump administration, on a different topic, is threatening to defund 100% of the funding for kids with special needs, including autism in our state. I know that's a different topic, but I think there's strong support for what we're doing here from law enforcement, from our communities. Ultimately, I believe that success will ensure its survival.

Sean Carlson: Attorney General, we should note that New Jersey and other states like Massachusetts participate in something called the Blue Envelope Program. That allows drivers to put copies of their license and registration inside a blue envelope. That envelope informs officers that the driver they've stopped is on the autism spectrum. What's the difference between that program and this new guidance?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Well, I'm a huge supporter of the Blue Envelope Program, which we're working to get statewide, as you note, to ensure that law enforcement officers in that moment of interaction have information that can be helpful to resolve whatever they're dealing with responsibly and safely. This is different in a couple of ways. One is its guidance for all of our officers regardless of whether the individual they're dealing with is a participant in the Blue Envelope Program.

Two, it gives the individual a way of-- a blue envelope in your dashboard is great, but this is a marker on your driver's license or your ID. If they go to motor vehicles and get the designation, that will be present no matter where they are. When they turn over their ID, the officer will see that they have a particular diagnosis. They'll be trained on how to appropriately deal with them. Ultimately, everyone will be safer as a result.

Sean Carlson: States like Texas also have a similar policy that they enacted in 2019. That's called the Samuel Allen Law. It lets anyone diagnosed with a communication challenge to disclose that when they register their vehicles with the DMV. How far ahead is New Jersey when it comes to initiatives like this?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Oh, I think New Jersey is at the forefront of ensuring that we're taking a clinical approach to interactions with law enforcement dealing with mental health challenges. As I said, we have a program called ARRIVE Together, which I expanded now. We're the first state in the country to have a statewide alternative response program for someone dealing with a mental health crisis.

Now, if the officers responding to a mental health call or an emotionally disturbed individual, we're responding with mental health providers in a clinical approach that has helped thousands and thousands of people in our state. These are the calls most likely to result in an injury. We've eliminated injuries. 7,000 calls, zero injuries. I think you can see the success in the data, but I see it in the interactions that our officers and our mental health providers are having with our residents every single day.

Sean Carlson: Before we let you go, we wanted to ask you about your role in New Jersey state government and politics. Unlike New York, New Jersey's attorney general is appointed by the governor and not elected by voters. You've been a pretty visible and vocal AG during your three years in this role. Whether it's the indictment of South Jersey political boss George Norcross or the legal battle over the county line, you've been out in front on a lot of these issues. Is that intentional on your part and how's that going over with your boss?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Look, I took an oath to protect the 9.5 million residents in my state and to uphold the constitution of this country and our state and the laws of both. I do that every day. I do that whether we're taking on social media companies who are harming our kids. I do it when we're tackling gun violence. We have the lowest level of gun violence in our state's history.

I do it when we're ensuring that law enforcement responds to mental health crisis appropriately. I do it when I take on the federal administration that's violating our laws and our constitution and hurting our residents. I certainly haven't been afraid of standing up to powerful individuals and holding them accountable when they betray the public trust and hurt our residents.

I view all of those things as part of my job as the chief law enforcement officer and the person responsible for protecting the 9.5 million people. I'm very proud of the work we've done. It offends certain powerful people. I've been blessed. I have really great support from the governor. If it offends certain powerful people, that's not my concern. My concern is the 9.5 million people that I swore to protect.

Sean Carlson: Now, Governor Murphy's term ends less than a year from now. You are younger than 40, Attorney General. We should note that. You've engendered plenty of goodwill among Democrats in Jersey as a result of some of these actions. What's next for you after there is a changing of the guard in Trenton next year?

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Look, I'm going to serve out this term and then I will probably spend some time with my kids. I have young kids. As I've said, I'm not going to retire, but I don't know what will come next. This is almost certainly going to be the greatest job I ever have. The ability to stand up for the state that I love, for the people that I'm sworn to serve. I'm proud of the work we're doing and I'm going to keep doing that until my term expires.

Sean Carlson: Okay. Well, maybe we'll ask you that question again next time we have you on. That was New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin. Thanks so much for joining us.

Attorney General Matt Platkin: Thank you so much for having me, Sean.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC NOW from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.

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